Saturday, March 31, 2007

Florida vs. Ohio State:Haven't We Seen This Before?

Yes, both this past January, when Florida football beat the stink out of the Buckyes. And this past December, when Florida basketball beat the stink out of the Buckeyes.

But this is a different Ohio State team: (1) On a neutral court, not Gainesville; (2) seasoned, healthy Oden; (3) playing as confidently as they have all season; (4) the powerful arrogance of youth. They are much, much better than that OSU team that got their asses kicked back then.

All that said, Florida didn't win by 26 back in December because of a fluke. The same matchups from back then will create problems for Ohio State, and here's the biggest: How will Oden manage Florida's three-headed post monster of Horford, Noah and Richard?

Florida to win its second straight national title, fulfilling a destiny worthy of a champ whose starting five postponed NBA millions to come back together, enjoy college basketball and stake their place as part of the very short list of the best teams in college basketball history.

Reddick is no where near as hateable as Noah. Reddick was cocky, but he did something more than scream and like a B@$$$. Reddick was the leading scorer in ACC history. Noah and sadly the entire Gator team is an over-hyped, whining team. They are good; don't get me wrong. They are no where near the team they act like. I mean in the game tonite, Noah should have been assessed easily 3 technical fouls for his little "expressions of passion". He is a loose cannon and you are right, he is going to cost his team. I respect passion for the game, but he is a baby and is just freaking annoying.

Wow, this was one of the most disappointing final fours I can remember. The promise of Oden-Hibbert, only to see them sitting on the bench due to stupid fouls. A Florida-UCLA rematch that was less competitive than the original (and lacking in defense down the stretch, too).

I hope the championship game is better, but I doubt it. How is Oden going to overtake the three-headed beast of Florida when Hibbert alone kept him from dominating(...mostly)? How are OSU's guards going to penetrate against Florida's far better defense? The only chance OSU has is a choke-a-thon, a la a certain college football team early this year. It could happen, but it's not likely.

I hate Florida, I hate OSU even more, and I'm going to hate watching a championship game that's over with ten minutes to go. I can only hope I'm wrong.

I can't think of a player I have ever disliked more than Noah. Maybe Danny Ainge back in the Pistons/Celtic rivalry days. Not too many players have ever made me want to turn the channel rather than watch them play.

A lot of the annoyance factor of JJ Redick came from the fake that analysts were always, always talking about him. Noah's annoying factor is purely his actions. Noah can't blame analysts, and he can't blame Duke.

2) Dan Shanoff- You're a bandwagon Florida fan!- You change your team affiliations all the time! You rooted for the Bears and Cubs your whole life, then when you finally got around fans who liked them, you gave them up! And I still read you every day!- ...and picking Florida to win pre-season wasn't bold! They were the defending champions who lost no one! Not bold!

3) College three point line.

4) Disgusting Thad Matta.

5) The stupid, overhyped Hibbert-Oden matchup, being ruined by the 5-foul rule. UGH.

Bonus hates:1) All three games in last years final four, and the two so far from this year, being TERRIBLE. It's almost unwatchable.

Bonus hates (football edition):1) And that BCS National Championship was boring as hell, too! UGH.

Noah would definitely be more annoying if he wore a Duke jersey. I hate Ohio State (Michigan fan), and I have nothing against Florida, but my gut says I'll be rooting for Ohio State on Monday because of Noah. Annoying.

florida's far superior defense?? tell conley that, im sure he will have no trouble penetrating like he has done all tourney. as a fan of tOSU my biggest concern is the gators outside shooting. however tOSU was able to completely shut down GU's Green that was supposed to kill the buckeyes so hopefully they can have the same success.GO BUCKEYES

Oh another thing way to go out on a limb and pick UF to repeat took a lot of stones to pick defending champs that are returning their whole team. Are you one of those guys that will pick that yankees to win the WS just because they are the yankees...

Worst. Finals. Ever. Do I really have to sit and watch these 2 teams again, the appeal of the finals is off...and it's worse than watching Yankees/Sox cause we have to watch them in 2 finals in the same year. Argh.

How depressing as a KU fan, at least they would have shown up to play and we could have a rematch of what was one of the best games of the season. After watching that "performance" I'm more convinced than ever that the UCLA-KU game was a fluke.

I'm definitely not a Duke fan. Redick was fairly hateable, and primarily because he liked to whine a lot. His game, over the years, got a hell of a lot better. I can see how Noah's getting on a lot of people's nerves, and if I hadn't been pulling for Florida, I'd be annoyed with him as well. But he's such a solid all-around player I have a hard time really hating him. And if any Florida fan needs to have introspection on annoying players, it shouldn't look any further than 1994 Final Four participant Andrew DeClerq, who lost his mind anytime his team attained possession of the ball from a 3-second call.

Because I went to another ACC school besides Duke, the player that got me most annoyed during my tenure was Chris Collins. More annoying than Redick and Wojo COMBINED and without nearly the skill level of his Dad, who played similarly but was much more talented. Man, he was annoying!

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.